Fish Health

Sea lice monitoring – Did you know that BC CAHS examines thousands of wild fish each year? We have ongoing programs to monitor sea lice on wild fish migrating past salmon farms and from areas with no salmon farms. Our technicians look at the species of lice, the life stage and sex of lice on the migrating juvenile salmon.

Under Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification, salmon farm companies must monitor out migrating juvenile salmonids for sea lice in the area that the companies have aquaculture facilities. Reports are available on the website of each farming company.

Wild Fish Health – As part of the regular sea lice monitoring done on each salmon farm, the monitors are permitted to collect non-salmonid fish in and around their pens at sampling time. BC CAHS has a project with the DFO where we look for pathogens that could be harmful to salmon or other fish in those non-salmonid fish supplied by the salmon farmers. This pathogen screening helps to inform stakeholders about ‘pathogen flow’ or the routes that pathogens take through the ecosystem. This is an excellent window into what pathogens reside in BC waters and if they contribute to concern about pathogen exposure.

From time-to-time citizens stop into the lab or phone us with fish health concerns about fish they have seen or have caught recreationally. We offer observation and comment on the issue free of charge to people who have questions or bring fish into the lab. We’re happy to educate the public on their concerns for our ocean resource.

These are just a few of the examples of how we work on wild salmon – there are many more. Our dossier on research projects grows and we look forward to serving the stakeholders and beneficiaries of the resource even more.